In Tables & Tablets, a low level Zombie has more HP than a high level Dragon. Why? Because different enemies require different tactics & weapons -- which change the Result Tables rolled on.

Lets first look at the Dragon's stats:

All monsters roll on the Monster Result Table; Raw & Cast are options on this table.

30 HP is significant, especially when paired with a a high Defence of 5, representing its tough scales. The Dragon's Magic Defence is one of the highest too, at 4, because of its level & because I expect some fights against a Dragon to be against one that has no allies, so the spell effects a Tablet-wielding PC produces will be lessened. A Magic Defence of 4 also means that a PC holding Animate Dead will need a significant INT score to be able to raise the Dragon from the dead & have it under their control for a day.

In Tables & Tablets a creature retains its stats when risen from the dead; an undead Dragon under the control of a PC would allow their party to roam the skies & breathe fire down on whatever they wanted. If I was the player who raised the Dragon, I would use it to make enemies surrender & present these to the bound magic of Animate Dead for appeasement. At the end of this eventful day, the bound magic of Animate Dead has gained a new lieutenant in its undead army. If I this was in my game, I would have this Dragon reappear one day.

The Dragon's Defence is "2 vs. exposed belly". I don't dictate to Referees how & when a Dragon's belly is exposed -- perhaps it varies per dragon. I suggest in the description that when a Dragon is airborne, their belly is exposed & therefore their Defence is much lower; I would narrate to players that they see that the Dragon's belly is not covered in scales & "glows" before a breath of fire. This lower Defence makes weapons much stronger, especially ranged weapons which would be able to harm a dragon in the air. Before I settled on this varying number for Defence, I remember asking myself: "With a Defence of 2, a PC with only a few points in STR could Decapitate a Dragon, but only if the PC was airborne alongside the Dragon & survived making it that close. Is this something I want to be able to happen?". I quickly realised that the answer was an absolute yes. What an epic moment that would be. The Dragon could have been killed in one hit, sure; the story of this happening would long outlive the buzz of that session. In my game, other Dragons would hear of this defeat & insist their minions craft them iron collars for their protection. Every Tavern would know the name of the decapitator.

It might be obvious that I don't separate the decisions around monster stat blocks from the realities of a table of play. I'd sooner make something unlikely, rather than impossible; this keeps players on their toes for opportunities & Referees thinking about how their world & their game evolves over time. For those that prefer watertight monster design, details like "2 vs. exposed belly" can be ignored, but I recommend giving them a go at least once, & clue players into these details.

Now lets look at the Zombie.

At level 4, it is less than half the level of a Dragon, & yet it has significantly more HP. To me this is explained by the simple fact that undead don't feel pain. To stop an undead, it needs to be literally stopped; dismembered at least. In my last devlog ("Origins") I mentioned that during a playtest a player lost their PC, the first time in 7 years that they had died during one of my adventures. In that devlog I explain how thrilled I was at this, not because a PC died, but because the consequences of their decisions & rolls in that situation were exactly what I intended when I began making my own ruleset. That death was down to Zombies. The party filled one of the undead with arrows, slashing & jabbing at it too, but it persisted against them, feeling no pain & eventually getting to feast on one of the party; it still had more HP remaining than the average monster. Had they had an Axe or two in their possession, they would have been able to get Dismemberment results against these fairly easy, given Zombies have a Defence of 0 -- or lower in the case of Abandoned in Bulk adventure (included with the Tables & Tablets ruleset). That party should have ran. The survivors did.

So the key to taking down a Zombie is to not target its HP. Once a Zombie has had both of its arms removed it can no longer attack. Sure they could bite, but I don't list a bite as an attack, reasoning that even wriggling around on the ground a PC would be hard to chomp down on; the Zombies mostly grab & hold a PC still, better yet knocking it unconscious. Another option is to target a Zombie's legs, leaving it dragging itself on the ground. I don't dictate what a Zombie's Movement is in this state, leaving this down to Referees to adjudicate. If a PC is particularly well equipped, they could Decapitate a Zombie, leaving its appetite suppressed & no longer an enemy that will act in combat.

These are just two examples of monsters in Tables & Tablets. There are more that require different strategies. Some are best dealt with using specific damage types against them, others are better faced using magic -- rolling against their Magic Defence instead of Defence. Other monsters are a danger before they even attack or change under a certain condition -- for this last one I'm thinking of the Automaton, inspired by the clockwork winged creatures from Elden Ring that go haywire.